Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pharmaceutical and related method for its application for the prophylaxis, suppression, or elimination of allergic reactions in humans.
More particularly, the present invention pertains to a pharmaceutical and its method for application for the treatment of allergic reactions commonly experienced by pregnant females and females or infants after birth with the goal of reducing allergies, such as, for example, atopic dermatitis and allergic rhinitis, infections and metabolic disorders due to inflammation in the infant later in life.
Description of the Prior Art
Allergic reactions to substances such as pollens (hay fever) or other components of plants, cat fur and other animal hairs, dust including the house dust mite droppings it contains, insect poison, foods such as milk or nuts, or perfumes and other components of cosmetics are well known and a growing problem for increasing numbers of people.
The cause of this is that the body's own immune system reacts to such substances as though they are actually harmful invaders, such as parasites. Moreover, the extent of the reaction is excessive.
In the course of this autoimmune response, the white blood corpuscles, the lymphocytes, play a considerable role. One form of lymphocytes are the T lymphocytes, or helper cells (TH cells), which secrete various mediators, cytokines, for controlling the immune responses. There are—firstly—cytokines that reduce or prevent the allergic reactions and—secondly—other cytokines that trigger inflammatory, that is to say allergic, reactions by having a stimulating effect as moderators on actor cells such as mast cells. According to this effect, all TH cells are classified into two groups, namely TH1 and TH2 cells. TH1 cells comprise antiallergic cytokines, such as γ-interferon (IFN-γ) or interleukin-2 (IL-2). TH2 cells comprise mediators that trigger allergic reactions, such as interleukins IL-3, IL-4, IL-5 and IL-10. Interleukin-4 stimulates the mast cells to form the antibody immunoglobulin type E (IgE), which is present in very large amounts in allergies.
The ratio between the number of TH1 cells and TH2 cells is crucial for the body's immune response to invaded pathogens. It is significantly lower in patients with an allergic reaction than in healthy people. It is known that newborn or premature babies also have a very low value so that the mother organism does not mistakenly attack the infant's cells.
The TH1-TH2 balance is therefore an important characteristic of each human and is also increasingly well known to a wider public.
It is generally supposed that changes to the intestinal flora and/or the lack of bacterial stimulation in very early childhood, as a result of excessive hygiene and a decrease in infectious diseases, creates the predisposition for a divergence of the value of the balance, and therefore gives rise to allergic oversensitivity.
Even in infancy, therefore, the invasion of allergens can cause inflammatory reactions, such as running noses and swollen mucosae, and even increased body temperature.
Numerous pharmaceuticals are known that combat or suppress the occurring symptoms. They have the disadvantage that they are often very expensive, trigger a number of undesirable side effects and must be continually taken by the patient.